SIR Keir Starmer faces “serious questions” if he did hold secret talks with Sue Gray during her Partygate probe, Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned this morning.
It comes as a Cabinet Office probe into the affair will report back to MPs TODAY.
A report into whether Sue Gray can be named Sir Keir Starmer’s new right hand woman will be published today
Foreign Secretary James Cleverly warned Sir Keir faces “serious questions” if he’s found to have held secret chats with Ms Gray during her Partygate probe
The Labour leader will battle awkward questions in the Commons today about his discussions with the top civil servant he wants as his chief of staff.
The Partygate investigator resigned in March after news of Sir Keir’s overtures leaked.
Ministers believe Ms Gray broke strict Whitehall probity rules by holding secret talks with Labour while serving at the top of government.
And Sir Keir — who is a stickler for doing things by the book and even calls himself Mr Rules — faces the embarrassment of having his aspiring right-hand woman fall foul of the Civil Service code.
Mr Cleverly told Sky News: “I haven’t seen the report, it’s a completely independent report.
“It’s the body that looks at senior appointments, so it’s independent of government.
“I’ve not seen the detail yet. If that is what the report says I think that Keir Starmer has got some serious questions to answer.”
Today Sir Keir insisted he never spoke to Ms Gray during her lockdown booze investigation.
He added he’s “confident” no rules have been broken.
“Firstly I had no discussions with her while she was investigating Boris Johnson whatsoever, I don’t think anyone is suggesting that’s the case,” the Labour leader told BBC Breakfast.
“Whenever a senior civil servant leaves the Civil Service there is always a process that they have to go through, that is the process she is going through, quite rightly.”
Sir Keir accused ministers of “trying to resurrect a story about Sue Gray” to distract from talking about the cost of living crisis.
The House of Commons order paper for today enigmatically reads: “Update into the circumstances leading to the resignation of a senior civil servant.”
There has also been widespread disquiet amongst senior civil servants that Ms Gray’s behaviour has left the whole Civil Service open to serious claims of bias.
The top manderin is currently on gardening leave and awaiting the findings of a separate probe from the Whitehall appointments body, ACOBA.
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